Romeo and Juliet eyes the stage

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By Kevin Dickinson

Siskiyou Daily News, Yreka, CA

By Kevin Dickinson

Posted Jul. 23, 2013 at 9:38 AM

By Kevin Dickinson

Posted Jul. 23, 2013 at 9:38 AM

Yreka

William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet in London sometime between 1591 and 1595. Now, more than 400 years and 5,000 miles later, the story of star-crossed lovers, feuding families and odd pick-up lines involving saints' hands praying will arrive at the Siskiyou Performing Arts Center (SPAC) for an extended weekend run, Aug. 1-4.

The play is being directed and adapted by J.J. Lewis-Nichols, a New York-trained actress who has been working with SPAC for 32 years. She has previously directed 18 summers of Shakespeare for the theater – including Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream. After a four-year hiatus, Shakespeare will return to SPAC with Romeo and Juliet.

Lewis-Nichols said the reason for reviving Romeo and Juliet, last performed at the Dunlap Theater in 2000, was her two leads, Cooper Bruhns and Allayana Darrow. Both actors have been working with Lewis-Nichols since they were children, and Lewis-Nichols said their talents and ages made them great fits for the roles.

In addition, Bruhns and another of Lewis-Nichols's students wanted to audition for the Juilliard School in New York. Having performed Shakespeare is practically a requirement for matriculation – the school's website calling Shakespeare the "ideal author" and noting "his work calls on all your craft, artistry and imagination."

Lewis-Nichols points out that in 400 years everyone has been doing Shakespeare; it's practically a discipline.

She said she wanted to provide her actors the chance to work within that discipline.

"To be able to say you have given it your best," said Lewis-Nichols, noting the challenge and reward of performing Shakespeare's language and devastatingly emotional characters.

When asked what will be different about this adaptation from previous SPAC performances, Lewis-Nichols said, "I've never done it with adults and children."

As an example, John McNally and Destiny McNally, his wife, will be playing Lord and Lady Capulet. Lewis-Nichols noted the play is entirely different when you have an adult with the command of McNally playing such a domineering father as Lord Capulet opposite an actual teenager.

"If your parents are horrid, you'll do dangerous things because you have nothing to lose," said Lewis-Nichols, musing on one of the play's many themes.

Lewis-Nichols also commented, "I think more than anything, even though [the actors] are only 14 and 15 years old, they have done so many plays that I could really play with characters more than I ever have."

She mentioned that when directing the famous balcony scene, the goal set before Bruhns and Darrow was not to do Shakespeare but to be teenagers.

"That's part of the key: You have to forget you're playing Shakespeare and be a human being," said Lewis-Nichols.

While the director and adaptor of the play, Lewis-Nichols explained that community theater is "really a community effort."

Page 2 of 2 - In addition to her actors, she expressed gratitude for Cindy Brown, SPAC president and costume designer; Kevin Downing, who put in the lights for the theater; and Lacy Williams, the set's interior designer.

Lewis-Nichols noted that their efforts and the efforts of many others has helped provide a place where adults and children who might not be interested in activities such as sports can "have some place to feel part of the family."

"That's what community theater is about: giving people a chance," said Lewis-Nichols.

Romeo and Juliet's premiere will be at the Dunlap Theater on Thursday, Aug. 1. Doors open at 7 p.m. with the show slated to begin at 7:30.